The Fear Behind the Smiles

What's All This Business About a Vampire Tadpole?

I went to the doctor and got these vitamins complete with fish oil gelcaps. Luckily the blue pills are chewable, and they don't taste too bad at all.

Mostly what I'm indicating in this picture is the insane overpackaging of these vitamins. These came one blister pack per box- yes, there was even a cardboard box on top of it. To quote my nephew, "I was like WHAT?!"

For those who have friended me on Facebook and follow my wacky hijinks (thanks! :) ), you may have noticed mention of the vampire tadpole's immenent arrival.

In fact, here's the exact status update: "The vampire tadpole has been sighted. Expect world dominance by December and bow before it!"

So aside from following the whims of something that doesn't even have a brain yet, I've been thinking.... We are at our most powerful when we're mere cells in the womb. We have pure dominance over the woman carrying us, and thus have dominance over those she holds sway over.

One example is my sudden love of breakfast foods. I went from being an advocate for sleeping til noon and skipping breakfast entirely to checking out the Breakfast Anytime! sections of various eating establishments. Fried eggs and toast seem downright heavenly, and orange juice has become something we keep in supply. Pancakes even look good practically anytime where I rarely used to eat them.

More details on the vampire tadpole to come. In the meantime, I need to go eat something.

News and Such.... aka Condoms Are Not Condiments

Floating in the etherverse, there's always a few interesting videos that occasionally make me giggle. One such video played like a latex-clad sex ed science class and featured a condom on a corn dog. Awesomesauce. High school was never that entertaining for me.

Other than stumbling across various YouTube insanity and my borderline Hulu and Adult Swim addictions, I've been jumping back on the writing horse. Pictured here is the stuff of my research (yes, even when writing something as trivial as a horror novel, I do actually do some research - be it to visit the places/live in the places I write about or research the history of places for setting and ambiance).

Note the cup of coffee and small stack of books. While gathering research I came across a book titled Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. How could I go wrong with that? I thought to myself. I was not disappointed. If you dig history, it's a great book. The vampires are more peripheral causes of the action, rather than main characters, which was refreshing.

I also finished reading The Amityville Horror and Nice Girls Don't Live Forever. Broke down and bought a Kindle to spare my poor sagging bookshelves. My plan is to buy antique books and first edition prints from now on, and all the rest can be electronic unless I adore them enough to want to sniff the pages.

Taking a break from the horror/vampire kick I returned to another genre love: noir detective story. The Silent Hour by Michael Koryta is an awesome read so far. Mystery, murder, and mobsters. Sounds catchy, right? And just to keep one foot planted squarely in my stereotype, I'm also reading Death Masks (aka Book 5 of The Dresden Files) by Jim Butcher. LOVE that series. Can't wait for the new book in April or the collection of stories due out around Halloween.

In music land, I've been digging Dixieland, old jazz, and a band called Rome (the gothic folk band, not the rap one if browsing iTunes). A few tried and true fave bands have released some new albums, so have Frontline Assembly, SITD, and Combichrist on a loop.

For 2011, I'm working on some humor projects. Dark humor, but humor nonetheless. Also working on the historical project, too. And.... if all goes according to plan, there may even be a graphic novel in the works. Stay tuned....

I've Been Bad....

 Instead of using my birthday weekend to update my Etsy shops and get stuff done, I did exactly the opposite. Epic win for fellow Etsians, as I splurged ALL over your shops. I think I may have bought an item from almost every Etsy shop this past week.

Mind you, the majority of my shopping spree was actually FOR my Etsy shops in way of supplies and such. I'm cool like that, and I try to keep prices in my shop as affordable as possible, since it's that kind of economy, I don't care who says it's getting better. If you're an artist in the US that isn't splashing paint for millions, then you're probably either poor or have a day job and a closet full of your art addictions. I can relate, totally.

So in an effort to support my fellow artists/Etsians, and keep my stash of fiber and jewelry-making supplies well-stocked with choices and various color palettes, I splurged. There was one purchase I made for me, though, as a happy birthday, and that was a little leather journal necklace and two leather journals from the Artreasury. I had been coveting both shops' wares for some time, and finally found a reason to break out the cash. 

For those who have yet to take the handmade plunge, it's something I highly recommend. We're out of the plaster hands and paste-dripping paper plates zone here, and the stuff posted to Etsy - the majority of it, anyway - is fantastic. Many shops will even do custom orders, so you get a truly unique gift at a usually decent price.

I also got a skein of INSANELY bright purple yarn to make socks for my mother. She's going to love it. I can just tell. If not, I'll distract her with the purple wind-up pinwheel pen I got her.

The World is Spinning and I'm the One At the Wheel

OK, where to begin? The end.

Now that we've got THAT out of the way, here's the middle and beginning to entertain the masses.

Got to hear a guy in a web meeting today pronounce passe (should have an accent over the e, and is pronounced pass-ay) as 'pass'. WRONG, dude. I don't care if you sound scrumptiously adorable and are from the land of tall, blonde and GQ-esque. Bastard.

This past weekend got to travel into Gettysburg, PA for much fun and romping. First stop was The Mannings, which isn't actually in Gettysburg but in East Berlin. Close enough as the crow flies, really. If you haven't been to the Mannings, well, jumping Jesus, get there! ... Well, only if you're a fiber freak like me, anyway. If you don't play with yarn or make yarn/felted objets d'art, then The Mannings might be kind of boring for you.

The purpose of this pilgrimage? To meet up with the gals (and hubby of a gal) of LSG on Ravelry. What a crazy awesome time. I may or may not have come off as a raging alcoholic to my new friends, but in my defense, we did have some awesome food and atmosphere by camping out in the Gettysburg Hotel bar.

After the adventure, came back home to ponder what exactly to do with the ends of yarns that have no home. Enter the hair ties, shown here to the left in lavender and black with glitz. They are available on my Etsy shop for the yarn grrl in your life.

I have to admit, they do amuse me greatly, and they come in assorted colors. These are a limited edition, so hurry up to BizarreYarns.etsy.com!

That is all. Until next time, of course.

~Suzi

Updates and Such

For those following closely across the electric saga, you know I'm on Facebook, MySpace, Livejournal, Blogger, and Twitter (I didn't even realize I was on Twitter, ironically). So, kudos, you know everything that I'm about to post. Feel free to read on for hilarious re-evaluations of situations and phrases, or you may carry on with what you were doing.

In book-land, had the first international sales (thank you, England!!), and apparently my novels are quite popular with the Kindle crowd. Even folks in the distribution land love em. So keep those sales coming!

For your daily dose of instant gratification, click here.

If you prefer to take it from the man, click here.

And below, behold some items from my Etsy shop. If you have an idea for a custom item, please send me a message and I'll be happy to help out. :)

Etsy Buy Handmade Xirconnia

In other news....

Work on the house is finally almost finished!!!!

To the left, the dining room completed, with drapes!

To the right, the living room, one side completed, with drapes!

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Knitting News.... 

The Socktopus is almost done. Two more legs to go, and I'm debating re-doing the body to make it larger. In the end I may have to, as the legs might not fit the original body.

My obsession with lace has begun....

It started as a simple yo, p2, k next row, rinse and repeat to end pattern. Kind of winged it, honestly. Then a thought struck me: I have a crapload of beads that I doubt I will use on anything jewelry-related. I asked Jess how to do the bead thing after reading a super cool pattern from Knitty.com that featured beading.

Jess, in her kind patient way, obliged me and showed me the mystery of beading. And then I started this silk scarf.

I'm now addicted.

And if you look out your window to the left, I finished my goth socks. I got the yarn from Rainy Days and Wooly Dogs on Etsy (yet another addiction... sheesh).

It's self-striping superwash awesome is what it is.

Photo features my gargoyle, Gustav, perched on pot of my fig tree. Yay, Gustav.

And then there was my birthday party....

This was toward the end of the night.

Naturally.

Note the awesome kick-pants.

And then of course there's the new spinning wheel.

I am uber-geek, hear me roar. And spin my own yarn.

Yay!

For the curious: it's a Kromski Sonata. It's portable and has double treadle.

Came with 2lbs of Corriedale, extra bobbins, a matching niddy-noddy, and a Mahagany finish. Win!

And that about sums up the time since I last posted. Wow. Good times.